diff -r 2181c37977d3 Doc/library/os.path.rst
--- a/Doc/library/os.path.rst	Sun Dec 02 11:21:02 2012 -0500
+++ b/Doc/library/os.path.rst	Sun Dec 02 22:34:49 2012 +0200
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@
    path, all previous components (on Windows, including the previous drive letter,
    if there was one) are thrown away, and joining continues.  The return value is
    the concatenation of *path1*, and optionally *path2*, etc., with exactly one
-   directory separator (``os.sep``) following each non-empty part except the last.
+   directory separator (:attr:``os.sep``) following each non-empty part except the last.
    (This means that an empty last part will result in a path that ends with a
    separator.)  Note that on Windows, since there is a current directory for
    each drive, ``os.path.join("c:", "foo")`` represents a path relative to the
@@ -283,8 +283,8 @@
    *path* is empty, both *head* and *tail* are empty.  Trailing slashes are
    stripped from *head* unless it is the root (one or more slashes only).  In
    all cases, ``join(head, tail)`` returns a path to the same location as *path*
-   (but the strings may differ).  Also see the functions :func:`dirname` and
-   :func:`basename`.
+   (but the strings may differ).  Also see the functions :func:`dirname`,
+   :func:`basename` and :func:`splitpath`.
 
 
 .. function:: splitdrive(path)
@@ -313,6 +313,23 @@
    returns  ``('.cshrc', '')``.
 
 
+.. function:: splitpath(path)
+
+   Split the pathname *path* into a list of components using the same
+   algorithm as :func:`split`.  Equivalent to::
+
+        def splitpath(path):
+            head, tail = split(path)
+            if head == path:
+                return [head]
+            return splitpath(head) + [tail]
+
+   ``join(*splitpath(path))`` returns a path to the same location as *path*
+   (but the strings may differ).
+
+   .. versionadded:: 3.4
+
+
 .. function:: splitunc(path)
 
    .. deprecated:: 3.1
diff -r 2181c37977d3 Lib/macpath.py
--- a/Lib/macpath.py	Sun Dec 02 11:21:02 2012 -0500
+++ b/Lib/macpath.py	Sun Dec 02 22:34:49 2012 +0200
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
            "getatime","getctime", "islink","exists","lexists","isdir","isfile",
            "expanduser","expandvars","normpath","abspath",
            "curdir","pardir","sep","pathsep","defpath","altsep","extsep",
-           "devnull","realpath","supports_unicode_filenames"]
+           "devnull","realpath","supports_unicode_filenames", "splitpath"]
 
 # strings representing various path-related bits and pieces
 # These are primarily for export; internally, they are hardcoded.
@@ -82,6 +82,20 @@
     return path, file
 
 
+def splitpath(p):
+    """Split the pathname into a list of components."""
+    # Noneffective generic implementation
+    result = []
+    while True:
+        head, tail = split(p)
+        if head == p:
+            result.append(head)
+            break
+        result.append(tail)
+        p = head
+    return result[::-1]
+
+
 def splitext(p):
     if isinstance(p, bytes):
         return genericpath._splitext(p, b':', altsep, b'.')
diff -r 2181c37977d3 Lib/ntpath.py
--- a/Lib/ntpath.py	Sun Dec 02 11:21:02 2012 -0500
+++ b/Lib/ntpath.py	Sun Dec 02 22:34:49 2012 +0200
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
            "ismount", "expanduser","expandvars","normpath","abspath",
            "splitunc","curdir","pardir","sep","pathsep","defpath","altsep",
            "extsep","devnull","realpath","supports_unicode_filenames","relpath",
-           "samefile", "sameopenfile",]
+           "samefile", "sameopenfile", "splitpath"]
 
 # strings representing various path-related bits and pieces
 # These are primarily for export; internally, they are hardcoded.
@@ -288,6 +288,28 @@
     return d + head, tail
 
 
+def splitpath(p):
+    """Split the pathname into a list of components."""
+    seps = _get_bothseps(p)
+    d, p = splitdrive(p)
+    s = None
+    for i, c in enumerate(p):
+        if c in seps:
+            if s:
+                result.append(p[j:i])
+                s = False
+        elif not s:
+            if s is None:
+                result = [d + p[:i]]
+            j = i
+            s = True
+    if s is None:
+        result = [d + p]
+    else:
+        result.append(p[j:] if s else p[:0])
+    return result
+
+
 # Split a path in root and extension.
 # The extension is everything starting at the last dot in the last
 # pathname component; the root is everything before that.
diff -r 2181c37977d3 Lib/posixpath.py
--- a/Lib/posixpath.py	Sun Dec 02 11:21:02 2012 -0500
+++ b/Lib/posixpath.py	Sun Dec 02 22:34:49 2012 +0200
@@ -22,7 +22,8 @@
            "ismount", "expanduser","expandvars","normpath","abspath",
            "samefile","sameopenfile","samestat",
            "curdir","pardir","sep","pathsep","defpath","altsep","extsep",
-           "devnull","realpath","supports_unicode_filenames","relpath"]
+           "devnull","realpath","supports_unicode_filenames","relpath",
+           "splitpath"]
 
 # Strings representing various path-related bits and pieces.
 # These are primarily for export; internally, they are hardcoded.
@@ -110,6 +111,21 @@
     return head, tail
 
 
+def splitpath(p):
+    """Split the pathname into a list of components."""
+    sep = _get_sep(p)
+    sepc = sep[0]
+    for i, c in enumerate(p):
+        if c != sepc:
+            break
+    else:
+        return [p]
+    result = [p[:i]] + list(filter(None, p[i:].split(sep)))
+    if p[-1] == sepc:
+        result.append(p[:0])
+    return result
+
+
 # Split a path in root and extension.
 # The extension is everything starting at the last dot in the last
 # pathname component; the root is everything before that.
diff -r 2181c37977d3 Lib/test/test_macpath.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_macpath.py	Sun Dec 02 11:21:02 2012 -0500
+++ b/Lib/test/test_macpath.py	Sun Dec 02 22:34:49 2012 +0200
@@ -46,6 +46,34 @@
         self.assertEqual(split(b":conky:mountpoint:"),
                           (b':conky:mountpoint', b''))
 
+    def test_splitpath(self):
+        splitpath = macpath.splitpath
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath("foo"), ['', 'foo'])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath(":foo"), ['', 'foo'])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath("foo:"), ['foo:'])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath("foo:bar"), ['foo:', 'bar'])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath("foo::bar"), ['foo:', 'bar'])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath("foo:::bar"), ['foo:', '', 'bar'])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath("foo:bar:"), ['foo:', 'bar', ''])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath("conky:mountpoint:foo:bar"),
+                          ['conky:', 'mountpoint', 'foo', 'bar'])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath(":"), ['', ''])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath(":conky:mountpoint:"),
+                          ['', 'conky', 'mountpoint', ''])
+
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath(b"foo"), [b'', b'foo'])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath(b":foo"), [b'', b'foo'])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath(b"foo:"), [b'foo:'])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath(b"foo:bar"), [b'foo:', b'bar'])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath(b"foo::bar"), [b'foo:', b'bar'])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath(b"foo:::bar"), [b'foo:', b'', b'bar'])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath(b"foo:bar:"), [b'foo:', b'bar', b''])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath(b"conky:mountpoint:foo:bar"),
+                          [b'conky:', b'mountpoint', b'foo', b'bar'])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath(b":"), [b'', b''])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath(b":conky:mountpoint:"),
+                          [b'', b'conky', b'mountpoint', b''])
+
     def test_join(self):
         join = macpath.join
         self.assertEqual(join('a', 'b'), ':a:b')
diff -r 2181c37977d3 Lib/test/test_ntpath.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_ntpath.py	Sun Dec 02 11:21:02 2012 -0500
+++ b/Lib/test/test_ntpath.py	Sun Dec 02 22:34:49 2012 +0200
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@
         wantResult = wantResult.encode('ascii')
     elif isinstance(wantResult, tuple):
         wantResult = tuple(r.encode('ascii') for r in wantResult)
+    elif isinstance(wantResult, list):
+        wantResult = [r.encode('ascii') for r in wantResult]
 
     gotResult = eval(fn)
     if wantResult != gotResult:
@@ -79,6 +81,44 @@
         tester('ntpath.split("c:/")', ('c:/', ''))
         tester('ntpath.split("//conky/mountpoint/")', ('//conky/mountpoint/', ''))
 
+    def test_splitpath(self):
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("foo\\bar")', ['', 'foo', 'bar'])
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("foo/bar")', ['', 'foo', 'bar'])
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("")', [''])
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("foo\\bar\\")', ['', 'foo', 'bar', ''])
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("foo/bar/")', ['', 'foo', 'bar', ''])
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("c:foo\\bar")', ['c:', 'foo', 'bar'])
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("c:foo/bar")', ['c:', 'foo', 'bar'])
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("c:")', ['c:'])
+
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("\\foo\\bar")', ['\\', 'foo', 'bar'])
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("/foo/bar")', ['/', 'foo', 'bar'])
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("\\")', ['\\'])
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("/")', ['/'])
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("c:\\foo\\bar")', ['c:\\', 'foo', 'bar'])
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("c:/foo/bar")', ['c:/', 'foo', 'bar'])
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("c:\\")', ['c:\\'])
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("c:/")', ['c:/'])
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("c:\\\\foo\\bar")', ['c:\\\\', 'foo', 'bar'])
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("c://foo/bar")', ['c://', 'foo', 'bar'])
+
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("\\\\conky\\mountpoint\\foo\\bar")',
+               ['\\\\conky\\mountpoint\\', 'foo', 'bar'])
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("//conky/mountpoint/foo/bar")',
+               ['//conky/mountpoint/', 'foo', 'bar'])
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("\\\\conky\\mountpoint\\")',
+               ['\\\\conky\\mountpoint\\'])
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("//conky/mountpoint/")',
+               ['//conky/mountpoint/'])
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("\\\\\\conky\\mountpoint\\foo\\bar")',
+               ['\\\\\\', 'conky', 'mountpoint', 'foo', 'bar'])
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("///conky/mountpoint/foo/bar")',
+               ['///', 'conky', 'mountpoint', 'foo', 'bar'])
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("\\\\conky\\\\mountpoint\\foo\\bar")',
+               ['\\\\', 'conky', 'mountpoint', 'foo', 'bar'])
+        tester('ntpath.splitpath("//conky//mountpoint/foo/bar")',
+               ['//', 'conky', 'mountpoint', 'foo', 'bar'])
+
     def test_isabs(self):
         tester('ntpath.isabs("c:\\")', 1)
         tester('ntpath.isabs("\\\\conky\\mountpoint\\")', 1)
diff -r 2181c37977d3 Lib/test/test_posixpath.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_posixpath.py	Sun Dec 02 11:21:02 2012 -0500
+++ b/Lib/test/test_posixpath.py	Sun Dec 02 22:34:49 2012 +0200
@@ -86,6 +86,26 @@
         self.assertEqual(posixpath.split(b"////foo"), (b"////", b"foo"))
         self.assertEqual(posixpath.split(b"//foo//bar"), (b"//foo", b"bar"))
 
+    def test_splitpath(self):
+        splitpath = posixpath.splitpath
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath('foo/bar'), ['', 'foo', 'bar'])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath('foo/bar/'), ['', 'foo', 'bar', ''])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath(''), [''])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath('/foo/bar'), ['/', 'foo', 'bar'])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath('/'), ['/'])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath('////foo/bar'), ['////', 'foo', 'bar'])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath('//foo//bar'), ['//', 'foo', 'bar'])
+
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath(b'foo/bar'), [b'', b'foo', b'bar'])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath(b'foo/bar/'), [b'', b'foo', b'bar', b''])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath(b''), [b''])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath(b'/foo/bar'), [b'/', b'foo', b'bar'])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath(b'/'), [b'/'])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath(b'////foo/bar'), [b'////', b'foo', b'bar'])
+        self.assertEqual(splitpath(b'//foo//bar'), [b'//', b'foo', b'bar'])
+
+        #self.assertEqual(splitpath('/spam' * 10**6), ['/'] + ['spam'] * 10**6)
+
     def splitextTest(self, path, filename, ext):
         self.assertEqual(posixpath.splitext(path), (filename, ext))
         self.assertEqual(posixpath.splitext("/" + path), ("/" + filename, ext))